And He Live Happily Ever After
If Anna Sewell were alive, she would be speechless at how "Black Beauty" turned out. Published on November 24, 1877, the author died five months after the first publication. She may have witnessed its initial success, but not long enough to see the book's impact on generations of readers. One's childhood would be incomplete without reading the book (or being read by Mum or Dad).
"Black Beauty" raised concern on the plight of Britain's working horses during the 19th century. But readers would sense a happy ending after reading the first chapter. Countless books would remind readers of good prevailing over evil, but only Sewell's masterpiece would dispel any doubts. This happened to be Sewell's only novel.
She was fourteen years of age when a mistreatment of her injury on her ankles rendered her unable to walk or stand on her own for a long time. This made her dependent on horse-drawn transportation for the rest of her life. Through the years, she developed her respect for these four-legged creatures. She traveled all over the Britain - and the continent - in search of treatment. She found it in spas, where she got the chance to meet other writers.
Do your best...
Black Beauty was a fine foal. He had fine memories of the open pastures in the English countryside with his mother, who was a fine horse herself. She knew her boy would be a working animal, so she kept on telling him to be the best horse he could be. Never they imagined their idyllic life would come to an end after Squire Gordon, their master, decided to leave the country. Black Beauty had a hard life, experiencing human cruelty at times. Ginger was one of the horses he befriended, whose upbringing made her aggressive when provoked.
Sewell used anthropomorphism, which gave voice to Black Beauty and the other animals. This enabled readers to understand human nature and animal suffering. Black Beauty's mother, for instance, kept on looking at a field not far from the farm. He had no idea that a fine horse was killed there after an injury rendered him useless. They were related. Beauty was haunted by Ginger's appearance during their last meeting. She was used and abused in the streets of London, her spirits broken. She only wished for death to end her misery. (A week after their meeting, Black Beauty saw a dead horse on a cart. He noticed the chestnut color. It was the same as Ginger's. Fear and sadness swept over him.) It was no surprise that the book led to stricter law on horse welfare. (During the 19th century, horse power fueled almost everything: agriculture, construction, and wars.)
As for Black Beauty, a friend of Squire Gordon saved him. It happened when he was near that age when he must be taking it easy. He returned to the farm, very well treated. Good horses do end up as winners.
